New Jersey Kabutos
The New Jersey Kabutos are a team in the Profesional Water Baseball Leagues (PWBL). The Kabutos play in the the Eastern Division of PWBL's American League eha eha. They are based at Fossil Stadium in Hoboken, New Jersey, located within the New York Metropolitan Area. The Kabutos have won the Eastern Division twice (2012, 2006) and were the AL wild card twice (2005, 2007). (For the upcoming season, see 2013 New Jersey Kabutos Season) Season By Season Results Roster Projected 2013 Starting Lineup (The last column is age, but the program is stupido) Projected 2013 Bench Projected 2013 Starting Rotation Projected 2013 Bullpen Reserve Lists (currently vacant) Coaching Staff History Will write this eventually. For more fun, see New Jersey Kabutos Historic Lineups Rivalries And Such Providence Anchors New Jersey's primary rival is the Providence Anchors. The two teams have been within five wins of each other in the standings throughout nine of the eleven PWBL seasons, and have been involved in several playoff chases down the stretch. Providence has a slight edge in regular season matchups, while New Jersey has a 6-5 advantage in postseason play. The teams are tied 1-1 in playoff series, as the Anchors defeated the Kabutos in the 2007 ALCS, and the Kabutos returned the favor in the 2012 AL Division Series. Virginia Beach Jellyfish The Jellyfish are New Jersey's interleague rival. The teams play once a year, in alternating locations, and Virginia Beach leads the overall series 22-11. The Kabutos have only won two games against the Jellyfish since 2007, and only four overall at Jellyfish Fields in Virginia Beach. On July 20, 2012, New Jersey defeated Virginia Beach 9-8 for their first road win against the Jellyfish since 2004. This is a more bitter rivalry than the others on this list. New York Water Baseball Players The Kabutos have a small rivalry with New York. This was much more prevalent during the early years from 2002-2005 when the Players were the class of the AL East. The rivalry peaked in 2005, when New York took two of three to end the season and fight off the surging Kabutos for the AL East title. New Jersey ended up winning the wild card that year, but the two teams have never met in the playoffs. Dover Propels The two divisional foes never really had a rivalry for the first decade of the PWBL but the Kabutos and Propels battled near the top of the standings for most of 2012 before Dover tapered off. Many predict a close finish in 2013 between New Jersey, Dover, and Providence in 2013. Miami Druggies Ehhh..... Indianapolis Republicans and Wyoming Oblongs The Kabutos share a very friendly pseudo-rivalry with the Republicans and Oblongs. As the three charter teams of the PWBL, they are slotted in the same scheduling block as each other every year, meaning that they play two series against each other during the season, instead of one. Additionally, throughout the season they are playing a similar schedule, having division rivals, interleague play, and off days at roughly the same time. New Jersey opens every season against the Oblongs, alternating home-field advantage year to year. The three teams are common trading partners, and fans of one are often secondary fans of another. St. Louis El Presidentes No one likes this team. Philadelphia Phillises Or this team. Alaska Blubber Nuggets This rivalry stems from the 2006 ALDS game 5, where a disputed call in the 12th inning gave Alaska the victory. With the bases loaded, Kabutos reliever Spedino DiMare pitched a fastball inside. The batter, Ken Griffin Jr. said "Ouch, that hurt", and the home plate umpire allowed him to take his base, giving Alaska the series-winning run. Later footage showed that the ball may not have hit Griffin Jr, but it was unclear because the home plate umpire was dancing in front of the camera during the play. Alaska went on to lose the World Series that year to Detroit, and the rivalry hasn't really existed beyond that game, but Griffin Jr. is booed whenever he comes to Fossil Stadium. Minor League Affiliates